Frankfurters, sausages and other like articles are manufactured by forcing a homogeneous fluid mass into an elongated casing. The length of the frankfurter or meat product is determined by twisting or tying off the casing periodically along its length creating individual frankfurters joined by intermediate joining segments.
Subsequently, the frankfurters, sausages or the like are severed in order to provide for individual frankfurters, sausages or the like for packaging.
The problems associated with severing the link or chain of frankfurters has been addressed and a number of solutions involving separate structures and functions have devised. A representative sample of these solutions would include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,492; U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,892; U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,477; U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,231; U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,763; U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,740; U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,937; U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,875; U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,600; U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,871; U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,709 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,316.
The latter patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,316 was developed by the Applicants herein. All of the aforementioned patents were directed to methods and apparatus for separating linked meat products. In each instance, the linked meat product was enclosed in a casing which could be characterized as being soft, flexible and easily severed. As such, a rotating single blade knife could be utilized as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,637 to separate the linked material.
Therefore, the joining segment remaining at each end of the frankfurter after it had been severed posed no problem to the packaging of the frankfurter, sausage or the like.
New products on the market, such as linked beef sticks and some types of sausage, are manufactured in the same manner as frankfurters, however, the casing is comprised of a collagen material which is more rigid and inflexible than the normal casing associated with the hotdog. Problems have been encountered in the packaging of this collagen encased meat product in that a single cut of adjoining segments results in a rigid, tapered and somewhat pointed end. This is caused by the fact that collagen encased meat products have to be twisted more turns so that the links will not unravel while being transported to the smoke or hanging sticks or rods; thus resulting in a much longer twisted space between the links. This rigid, tapered, pointed end causes problems in the packaging of the material in that it punctures the cellophane or plastic wrapping especially when the wrapping is applied in a shrink wrap manner, such as vacuuming.
Therefore, while cutting mechanisms described in the aforesaid patents might be capable of separating linked meat materials encased in a collagen casing, the separated links present packaging problems which result in wasted material and a product which is not sealed against contamination.
The Applicants herein have developed a cutting mechanism adaptable to their link separator as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,316 which addresses and solves the problem of separating collagen encased meat products which eliminates the tapered, pointed ends of the product such that the product can be wrapped for sale without incurring the problem of the product puncturing the wrapping.